Buying dresses for the very curvy (<-- shape, not size)

[Little lady]

I love getting replys on this thread!

Grant Fan: I don't have a great talor to go to, unfortunately, but I'm sure that is a fabulous soloution for everybody who does. That's why I very much appriciate places that offers to make things to fit better.

Land-O-LakesGal: Thank you, I have seen pictures, and I think Doris Mayday looks fabulous in Bettie Page clothing.

C-Dot: My mode Merr favourite is the flirt skirt, so it should be even easier to fit, it's great you could tell me their waists run big, I know what size to get then I like the VoH tea dresses, and pencil skirts are always nice but with the latter I would still have to get a few sizes more than my waist to fit my hips, not only 2" bigger, but they are the most hip friendly off the rack skirts I have seen on the internet, with a 12 inch difference.

 

[W-D Forties]

Helen at Pin Up Parade is extremely helpful and always puts proper measurements up on her site. She can recommend specific dresses too if you email her and stocks a small but lovely range with good prices too.

pinup-parade.com

 

[Black Dahlia]

I can vouch for Bettie Page dresses, having almost 20 of them. *ha ha* However, I always consult the woman I buy them from as sometimes I take a medium and sometimes a large. Really depends on the dress.

I saw a company at the back of a magazine recently that specialized in dresses for curvy/big busted women. I'll find it and post the url asap!
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BD

 

[Black Dahlia]

Hi again,

The advert I saw in the magazine was for Pepperbery: http://www.bravissimo.com/pepperberry/

Not sure what their clothes are like, but they're made with 'boobs in mind' as their tag line says! ha ha

Whoops, just realized that this site was already posted by you, Little Lady. Ignore!
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BD

 

[Little lady]

W-D Forties: That sounds great, I have visited the site before, and seen the size charts, but I have not shopped there yet.

Black Dahlia: I do use Bravissimo clothing sometimes, lately their sizing has changed a bit (not for the better), and it can be inconsistent too, so I'm confused, but they never have been good for big hips, only the ocational item, or a full skirt, but there really haven't been a pencil skirt dress that I know of there that I would have hope of fitting, so it's not curve friendly everywhere. I mostly use them for blouses.

 

[W-D Forties]

The best skirt I have is a double layered jersey wiggle skirt I bought in the sales at Warehouse last year. It's super stretchy and has a high waisted wide elastic top. Sounds horrible (and it's actually very 80's really), but it looks fabulous on as it falls well below the knee and fits in all the right places.

When it finally wears out I'm going to make one similar as its such a basic skirt - the fabric does all the work and it's basically a tube folded over with very wide elastic at the top. Even if you don't have much experience of sewing it would be dead easy to make something similar.

 

[TheNightingale]

As someone in the same situation, I can really only give the same advice, especially about finding a seamstress or tailor. I gather you live away from things, as I used to, but is there a site similar to Craigslist there? It allows people to advertise services and goods...you may find a seamstress that way.

Belts work; it may be worth learning to at least take in the waist of your dresses so this isn't as much of a problem. I stopped wearing pants, being a skirt gal, but I was ALWAYS taking pants in to my tailor to have the waist taken in thanks to a 14-inch waist-hip difference! He nipped jackets and dresses in at the waist for me, as I've a fuller bust, too. But like I said, it became extremely costly over time.

Also, I saw this the other day on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/364275933/ It might be worth considering, though I don't know how it would look with a dress...It might work, though!

 

[Little lady]

I found another site that seems to offer to make things to fit, http://www.hubbahubbavintage.com/

I also had the oportunity to try on som Vivien of Holloway items. Their pencil skirts are with a 12" difference, and they had extra material in the waist for me, but some of the fabrics seem to behave quite well with a belt, it could possibly look quite like it fitted that way. Their tea dress and day dress also seems to have potential, when belted. All of the items seemed to take a bit more than their size chart suggests in the boobs and the hips, which I was very happy to find. I didn't considder the fancier styles they have, because they are halters and also more low cut, and the design of the bust area seems like you can't have really big boobs with them. If you are okay with that, maybe you could get a reasonable fit with them anyway, I'm not sure, but I would reckomend them only to people with more average boobs, I think.

TheNightingale: I don't know of anything simmilar to craigslist for my area. There are some places I could think of to search for this, mainly one, but nothing turned up within resonable distance. I have to admit I'm not a fan of the look of the pinned shirt you linked to. But learning to take inn the waists of dresses, definitely would be usefull. I'm sure there must be some good guides for this on the internet. It is only a shame when you find a dress with some kind of detail at the waist, where altering it, or wearing a belt would take away from it. And I definitely need lots of practice, I am not good at sewing, though I do try it sometimes (and hopefully improving).

WDForties:It sounds very simple to do, I agree with that. I don't have similar experience with stretchy fabric skirts though, I usually have felt that there really needs to be more than stretch to make something fit, there needs to be shape too, or I get a too tight at the hips and unflattering fit, and/or a gaping waist. Maybe you have found the right material, that really works well, and I haven't. Sounds great that you have found something that really works for you.

 

[TheNightingale]

LittleLady, that's not my favourite, either, but it's worth a try, I suppose. Definitely look online! I know Casey's Musings has a blog post about taking in cardigans so they fit properly and in a more flattering fashion...I'll be honest, when it comes to my actual vintage items, I am very skittish about sewing them myself unless it is something simple like taking up a hem or shoulder. I fear accidentally destroying something that's been around longer than I have! I take it to the best tailor I can find, and barring that, make my mother in law (a fine seamstress) sit with me and help me work on it. Then there's someone to share the blame, ha!

Is there a way to find another seamstress or sewer in your area, just...a regular person with more sewing experience? They may not do it for a living, but the internet clearly shows there are some remarkably talented people out there who might be happy to teach you the basics! We are a bit spoiled here in the States...

 

[Little lady]

The Nightingale: I do read Casey's Musings, and I have seen the blog post you mentioned, and I probably will try it some time
I assume there are people who like to sew nearby, but I don't really know anyone with much more experience than me, or not that I could ask. I guess I just have to keep an eye out?

 

[sheeplady]

This is a total shot in the dark, but in my state (in the US) we have courses for adults through our educational system on things like cooking, sewing, crafting, dancing, etc. They are basically labeled as "adult continuing education/ enrichment courses", where you don't get any college credit but you take them for fun. They are offered by county, so they are not everywhere. But the instructors for these courses often know others in the area. I was thinking perhaps you could contact the instructor for a sewing course and see if they know anyone? I'm not sure if you have anything like that in the area, but it is worth a shot to look and see. I'd call the local school or goverment to see.

The other thing I am thinking, if you are looking for a seamstress, is to contact a bridal shop. Here, all the gowns are sized for a 6 foot bride, so they all need to be fitted, at least in length. Lots of people are associated with the smaller bridal shops who do alterations out of their homes, part-time, often for very little.

 

[LinaSofia]

I'm sure someone has suggested this already... but there are plenty of sellers on etsy who will make gorgeous things to your exact measurements. I'm having a 40s pinafore skirt made by The Black Pinafore, I've never had anything made by her before but she's got a great reputation and I've seen other bloggers wearing her pinafore skirts and other things, so I'm really excited and her prices are really good too.